Hello! Quite a bit has happened since my last blog entry! After a full week of intense racing at U.S. Nationals at the beginning of the month, I have returned to Sun Valley, Idaho for a bit to train. This past week was full of excitement and new experiences. I began my community service project at the Wood River YMCA helping with the after-school program. I've had a lot of fun being immersed in the lives of elementary age kids. The after-school program allows kids of all ages to come to the YMCA and participate in many activities. While kids over the age of 10 are allowed to roam the facility as they please, the younger kids, under the age of 10, are required to stay in the "kids gym," this is where i hang out and play too:) The "kids gym" contains many games including X-box, dance dance revolution, foosball, air hockey and several board games and not to mention a climbing wall. All of these games are popular among the kids, especially dance dance revolution! Many times the parents have to peel their kids away from these fun games, sometimes resulting in a few tears.

Lucy and Jade are in the middle of a dance-off.

Along with helping at the YMCA last week, I also had the privilege of playing games with the Sun Valley Prep Team. The prep team is a part of the Sun Valley Nordic Ski Team and is geared towards teaching kids how to ski, grades 4 through 8. Let me tell you, game days are fun... there are some quick little skiers out there! We played several familiar games that I had once played when I was younger, such as sharks and minnows, tunnel tag and tails. I did my best to keep up with them, but many times I was outnumbered, making it endlessly impossible to survive. Along with the fun games, I was able to ski with some of the kids and help them with their ski technique. Watch out, there are some good, fast skiers coming up!

A wild game of "Tail Tag"